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First Trip to KI.


CoasterCurt
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First, congratulations of your first visit!

For a Weds trip, you will probably experience not too bad of lines. Although, the closer into the afternoon, the more people and the more the crowds. I'd suggest hitting the most popular rides, such as Diamondback, or The Beast first. Those will fill up the most for a trip to Kings Island. A good idea on a eating location is the Larosa's on International Street, you should definitely eat out by the fountain, it is an experience you can only have at Kings Island.

I hope you have FUN.

-BB1

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On Weds, you will have no problem riding everything multiple times. If you start at Firehawk, do that and Flight of Fear, work down to Vortex/WindSeeker, from there, around to the Backlot Stunt Coaster. From there, down to Beast, then to Diamondback.

Or, start at DB, work the opposite way around to FOF, then Racer, then Adventure Express, then up to Invertigo, Drop Tower, and Flight Deck.

Very easy park to navigate.

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Diamondback and Beast are fairly close together, right? People have mentioned starting with Firehawk to get it out of the way, is that something you would also suggest?

Yes, they are close. I never really got the time to ride the Firehawk, so I cannot comment.

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Firehawk and Flight of Fear, particularly the former, can sometimes get long lines even on slow days, so hit them first right as the park opens. From there, skip Vortex for now as it rarely has a long wait and go to Backlot Stunt Coaster instead before its line gets long.

After that, you can pick and choose what you want to do. Invertigo has a slow-moving line, so if you see less than a 10- to 15-minute wait for it, take advantage. Delirium and Drop Tower can get long lines sometimes, but usually aren't too bad on a May weekday. Diamondback and The Beast are the most popular rides and thus usually have relatively long lines; however, both lines move very quickly. Vortex's line moves quickly (as I previously mentioned) and also has a very short queue; a line all the way out to the midway and spilling out the entrance is only about 20 minutes, maybe 30. The Racer is not likely to be running both sides on an understaffed school day (the park relies quite heavily on high school students for staffing), but still usually has a short wait and moves people through fairly quickly. Adventure Express and Flight Deck will probably have no wait at all.

For lunch, I recommend Hank's Burrito Shack, which is very good food for some of the most reasonable prices in the park (if you get guacamole on your entree, it's actually cheaper than Chipotle). Panda Express in the Festhaus is also good. For a full-service sit-down meal, the Reds Hall of Fame Grille has good food for decent prices, as well as the cheapest soft drinks in the park.

Hope you have fun, and welcome to KIC!

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Welcome!

It's "education days," so there'll probably be slightly larger crowds than on typical weekdays.

If pizza's not your thing, I recommend Fresh Cut Fries w/cheese and Chicken Tenders at Rivertown PotatoWorks. It's a left turn after Diamondback, and before The Beast.

Is it your first trip ever, or for this season?

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Congratulations on going to the park for the first time. My game plan is to usually start with Invertigo(a tradition since I've been tall enough to ride it) and then head to Diamondback and work my way counter-clockwise around the park. Lunch at Kings Island can actually be very interesting due to the amount of different options that they have at the park.

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Welcome!

It's "education days," so there'll probably be slightly larger crowds than on typical weekdays.

If pizza's not your thing, I recommend Fresh Cut Fries w/cheese and Chicken Tenders at Rivertown PotatoWorks. It's a left turn after Diamondback, and before The Beast.

Is it your first trip ever, or for this season?

First trip ever to the park, thanks for all the great advice :)

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As far as rides go, The absolute must-ride is The Beast! It is the lonest wooden roller coaster in the world and over 30 years later, he still rips through the trees as good as ever. Another great ride is Flight Deck, which is a classic suspended coaster that is one of the few of its kind still in operation. If you aren't afraid of heights, than Slingshot and Xtreme Skyflyer are also great.

With food, I think the best places to go are Hanks Burrito Shack, The Festhaus, or the All-New Reds Hall of Fame Bar and Grill. For a snack, you could stop at Cinnabon, or at The Worlds Greatest Funnel Cakes.

Welcome to KIC! And I hope your trip goes well!

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Since it being your first time ever at KI, I back up those who mentioned Firehawk and FOF for first rides. Firehawk (if it opens on time) line can get ridiculous fairly quickly and its a real slow moving line to boot.

For food, I seldom ever eat at the park, but when I do, its generally Skyline on International Street or Graeters which is also on International Street (hey, they actually make decent shakes). I recommend Skyline honestly.

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For lunch, I recommend Festhaus- it has a lot of options (pizza, mac 'n cheese, burgers, even Chinese food) and the LaRosa's pizza is amazing. For ride recommendations, try to ride all the big coasters (Vortex, Beast, Diamondback, Racer, etc.) plus Drop Tower and, if it's warm enough, any of the water rides. As others have said, if you do want to ride Firehawk, make sure to get there first thing as the line moves pretty slow. Also, lockers for loose articles are $2 (I think they are still $2?) at Firehawk's entrance (there are lockers at other rides, but this is especially important as Firehawk is a flying coaster that will turn you upside-down while you are laying down!) Finally, have fun and thanks for visiting Kings Island! :)

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Back to the topic on "if" Firehawk opens on time. (cause it does happen from time to time) If you do decide on FOF/Firehawk as the first ones and you find Firehawk isn't ready yet, but FOF is open, then do FOF for the first ride. Cause you probably be lucky to find Firehawk is just opening up when you are done with FOF. Just speaking from my personal experiences.

Hope you have a good visit!

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Ride Firehawk and Flight of Fear first as their lines take longer to move through then ride Vortex and Backlot Stunt Coaster. Then move to The Beast then Diamondback.Then I would go to the front of the park and ride Invertigo then Flight deck. Then ride Drop Tower and Delirium. For food I recommend Rivertown Potato Works.

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For lunch, I recommend Festhaus- it has a lot of options (pizza, mac 'n cheese, burgers, even Chinese food) and the LaRosa's pizza is amazing. For ride recommendations, try to ride all the big coasters (Vortex, Beast, Diamondback, Racer, etc.) plus Drop Tower and, if it's warm enough, any of the water rides. As others have said, if you do want to ride Firehawk, make sure to get there first thing as the line moves pretty slow. Also, lockers for loose articles are $2 (I think they are still $2?) at Firehawk's entrance (there are lockers at other rides, but this is especially important as Firehawk is a flying coaster that will turn you upside-down while you are laying down!) Finally, have fun and thanks for visiting Kings Island! :)

Oh, yes. I forgot about the locker policy on Firehawk. Absolutely no purses or bags are permitted in line for Firehawk, and the only things that can be left in the station are flip-flops, prescription glasses, and souvenir cups. Everything else must be left in a locker or with a non-rider.

If you decide to tackle the water rides, White Water Canyon's line is usually the longest of the three, and is very hard to judge without experience waiting in line due to how far back in the woods it is set. Don't trust the wait time sign, as anyone can (and sometimes does) just walk up to it and spin it to whatever they want to. Hint: Before crossing the bridge over the water channel, there is a long straight stretch of queue where the exit path runs parallel and very close to the queue; a line extending through and to the end of that straight section is roughly 30 minutes.

The log flume usually has a bit of a line, but not too bad. Unlike WWC, you can see the entire line from the midway, so it's fairly easy to judge. Congo Falls never has a line except on hot, busy Saturdays, and you can get wet totally drenched on the exit bridge with no wait or ride at all (great if someone in your party wants to get wet but is too chicken to ride anything).

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Thoughts on a Fast Lane or Fast Lane Plus for our first and probably only time at KI?

Skip it. On a May weekday, the lines will not be anywhere near long enough to make it worth your money. You should be able to ride everything with no problem, possibly multiple times, without getting it. The only time I would recommend Fast Lane is on a Saturday or major holiday.

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For a weekday in May I can almost guarantee you will be able to ride everything you want without the Fast Lane or Fast Lane Plus passes. Kids are still in school, and Wednesday is the middle of a work week. Crowds shouldn't be an issue at all!

As far as recommendations, the Eiffel Tower is a must-experience, especially for a first time visitor. It gives a great view of everything the park has to offer, and it is a beautiful place in general! Don't overlook it!

Whatever you decide to do, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love to hear how your first trip to KI goes! Let us know! Have fun :)

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I will report back how the trip went, the other guys in the group are pretty set on getting the Fast Lane, not the Plus but the regular one because being a one and only shot at getting to the park they want to ride as many times as we can. We will see how the crowds are at the park before deciding an the Fast Lane.

Make sure to check out the Eiffel Tower, will do :)

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Forget Fastlane. I was at Kings Island from 5:50pm to 8:00pm tonight and never waited longer than 5 minutes. Ride count in two hours: flightdeck 3 in a row, could have rode all night without missing a train.2 red racer,1 AE,1 Vortex,4 DB,1 Boo Blasters(yes, I'm a master blaster always) and the second to last Beast train. Have fun and enjoy your day! Edit: I wrote Flight of Fear but meant flightdeck, probably because I was thinking about why I didn't ride Flight of Fear tonight! Another note: We actually went to the park planning a mini marathon on BLSC, but it was shut down from the time we got there?

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Welcome to KIC. And I'll have to agree with the others that buying a fastlane pass on a Wednesday is probably not necessary. Even with the slow moving line that is Firehawk, you should still have more than enough time to ride everything. And as has been mentioned, when/if you do decide to tackle Firehawk, make sure you store all loose items in the lockers. As far as lunch, I'd recommend Festhaus. LaRosas pizza and Panda Express in the same building, and might catch a show while you eat?(not sure of weekday show times). I'm sure you'll have a good time, can't wait to hear about it. :D

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